Carton



Sept. 14, 1943.

w. M. mcHARps I CARTON Filed Dec. 26, 1940 727 van tor' M/l'a'm M Hz'c'are/5,

-insect attack.

Patented Sept. 14, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE l CARTON William M.Richards, Chicago, Ill.

Application December V26, 1940, Serial No. 371,762

` (cl. zza-51) 6 Claims.

This invntion relates to carton construction and has particularreference to improvements in wall structure whereby the initially sealedcarton may be readily opened and may be reclosed substantially air-tightwithout resealing after being once opened.

Rectangular cardboard cartons such as are usually employed as containersfor cereal breakfast foods and other products that are perishable orlikely to become stale on exposure to the' air or to be subject toattack by insects are usually sealed air-tight and have to'be torn Iopen to give access to their contents. Once such margin of profit andprevent the manufacturer from meeting competition in the'market whilemaintaining a.high quality of product.

The main objects of this invention are to provide a'form of sealedcarton that can be made of cardboard and the like andj can be readilyopened for access to its contents -and be reclosed to formasubstantially air-tight packagel for' the remainder of the product; toprovide a carton of this kind that can be manufactured withoutappreciably-increasing the packaging cost of .the product; and to'provide an'improved method and structure for eifecting the 'opening andclosure of a rectangular paper carton that requires no specialimplements and is simple enough to be'attractive to the consumer of theproduct, and whereby the mere act of opening the carton will, withlittle more attention, convert it into 3-3 of Fig. 1 and showing an.arrangement vof internal scoring in accordance with this inve'n-l tion.

Fig. 4 is a similar sectional detail showing the Amanner in which theparts of the carton telescope with each other' after the carton has beenopened and-reclosed.

In accordance with this invention the carton may have any'usual form ofclosure flaps that are sealed in their closed position but which are notillustrated in the accompanying drawing as they form no part of and havenospecial relation to the invention.

In the form shown in the drawing, vthe sidewalls'of the carton arescored, preferably internally, to provide a-peripheral line of severance'extending around all four sides of the carton at a uniform distancefrom or substantially parallel with its top end 5. Each of a pair ofoppo-` sitelsidewalls 6 has an additional score line 'l extending at anoblique angle from the score line 4 and downwardly until it meets theadjacent Vertical corner 8 between the' sidewall '6 and the adjacentwall-9 at a point HI which is spaced below the score line 4 a distancevsli'ghtly less than the distance between said score line '4 and the topwall 5 of the carton. Usually such cartons have a sealing flap at oneVertical corner and it should be understood that the score lines aVertical comers 8 of the carton.

a smaller package with telescoping cover which can be applied withoutbuckling the side walls, or otherwiseekposing A specific embodiment ofthis invention is shown in the accompanying drawing inwhich:

' Figure 1 is an exterior view in perspective of' my 'improved carton;

Fig. 2 is a similar view illustrfating the relation 'of the parts Aofthe carton after it has lonce been according to the contents to air orto' 1 should not be located at that corner. There are two such cornerCutting score lines 1 and these are located at diagonally opposite Thelines of severance may be lines of Weakened wall structure of anydesired type but are preferably simply score lines that partly sever thelwall material. If the carton is of obllong shape,` then the score lines'I should preferably be on the narrower sides. side oroutside, butinside scoringis preferred because it leaves the exterior smooth.

In the drawing the score lines are shown V- shaped in cross-section butit will be understood that this is a matter of choice and that the na-vture of the scoring will be determined by the method by which theweakeninglof the material is accomplished in themanufacturing operation.

For example, the V-shape'shown in the drawing would resultif the scoringis "accomplished 'by knife blades set in the face of the die of a, presswhich might be used in stamping out the carton a blanks.

The scoring may be either in-- and 'LI which are shown as broken ordashed lines in Figure 1 and would usually be incorporated in someconventional manner into the printed matter that would appear on the.side walls of the carton. w

To open the package the 4user would draw a knife blade tip or any otherpointed implement along the lines of demarcation 4.| that indicate thelines of severance 4 and thus tear the package into two parts. The userwould then pass the knife blade down along the lines of demarcation 'l.lthat lccate the scores 'l which which completes the process ofpreparation for reclosing the carton.

After some of the contents have been removed, the cover part I isapplied to the main body portion of the carton as a telescoping cover,as illustrated in Fig. 2. In applying this cover a slight pressure ofthe fingers at the points |2 near the upper ends of the sidewalls 6willcause the gore flaps |3 to slip sidewise over the adjacent portionsl2 of the side walls 6 and permit the rim of the carton body to yieldsufliciently to readily enter the cover part l I.

, When this cover part is pushed down as far as it will go, the rim ofthe carton body which was formed by the score line 4 will fit tightlyagainst the top wall 5 of the carton and against the sidewalls of 'thecover part l and its lower rim M will be stretched tightly about thewalls of the body part of the carton without buckling those walls and.thereby provide a substantially air-tight closure for the carton.

the two parts will fit against each other snugly throughout 'their'overlapping areas.

By having thewedge-shaped gores formed at diagonally opposite corners ofthe carton, the material of the carton yields sufiiciently so that therectangular formof the carton is not visibly distorted.

- With a carton formed ofcardboard, the'corner bends 8 are naturallyslightly rounded and this permits the corner folds along the gore flaps|3 to yield or roll sufliciently to permit the upper edges of the uncutcarton walls 9 to pass into their seat at the top of section withoutbuckling. The lower margin I 4 of the cover section and the adjacentparts of the body are respectively stretched and compressed to form atight joint below the lower ends of the cuts 'l,- thus providing asubstantially air-tight fit throughout.

Although but one specific embodiment is herein shown and described, itwill be understood that various details of the construction shown may bealtered or omitted 'without departing from the i spirit of thisinvention as defined by the followv mgLclamS.

I claim:

1. A carton having a peripheral line of severance spaced from onethereof and at which the carton may be divided to form a body part and acover part and having solely one pair of lines of severanceextendingtransversely 'from said peripheral line of severance adjacentto and obliquely across diagonally opposite corners of said body part.

2. A carton having a peripheral line of severance spaced from one endthereof and at which the carton may be divided to form abody part and acover part and having solely one pair of lines of severance extendingtransversely down- Ward from said peripheral line of severance adjacentto diagonally opposite comers of said body part, said transverse linesof severance being inclined to meet the'respectively adjacent corners ofthe body part at points spaced below said peripheral severance line adistance less than the height of said cover part.

3. A carton having a peripheral line of severance spaced' from one endthereof and at which I the carton may be divided to form a body partsaid peripheral line of severance adjacent to di- -Since the gores thatare formed at the upper 'and a cover part and having solely one pair oflines of severance extending transversely from agonally opposite cornersof said body part, said transverse lines of severance being inclined tomeet the respectively adjacent corners of the body' part at a pointremote from said peripheral severance line, and to meet the severanceline at a distance of approximately three times the thickness of thecarton wall from such comers.

4. A carton comprising a body part and a cover part each having an openend of like dimensions to the open end of the other, said body parthaving solely one pair of slits each slit of said pair respectivelylocated at diagonally opposite corners of its open end and extending atan angle across comers of different side faces of said body part'fromthe open end thereof to the adjacent side corner thereof to form flapcovered gores and permit said bodypart to be telescoped into said coverpart.

5. A carton comprising a body part and a cover part each having an openend of like dimensions to the open end of the other, said body parthaving solely one pair of slits each slit of said pair respectivelylocated at diagonally opposite corners of its open end and extending atan angle across comers of different side faces of said body part fromthe open end thereof to the adjacent side corner thereof to formwedge-shaped fiap covered gores and permit said body part to be.

telescoped into said cover part, said slits being of less height thanthe side walls of said cover part. 6. A carton'comprising a body partanda cover ,part each having an open end of like dimensions to the open endof the other, said body part having solely one pair of slits each slitof said pair respectively located at diagonally opposite corners of itsopen end and extending at an angle across comers of different side faces'of said body v part from the open end thereof to the adjacent sidecomer thereof to form wedge-shaped flap covered gores and permit saidbody part to be telescoped into said cover parhsaid beingof.

less height than the side walls of said cover part, and the top width ofsaid gores being approximately three times the thickness of the cartonmaterial..

WILLIAM M. RICHARDS.

